Weight of Words
by Raven Ehtar
Summary: Whatever the rest of the Avengers team thinks of the odd family situation developing in the Tower, Tony and Loki don't need the weight of words to communicate. Avengers / Norse mythology fusion. One-shot. Frostiron. Part VI of "Loki's Brood" series.


_**A/N:**__ Time for something a little heavier on introspection this time. Actually there are a few like this coming up. And for those watching the numbers on these, yep, we skipped over Part V. There's a reason for that and we'll get back to it. Trust me. Enjoy, peeps!_

_(See __**A/N2**__ after the fic for more continuity notes, please. :D)_

_**Series: **__Loki's Brood__, Part VI_

_**Betas:**__ SkyTurtle_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own __The Avengers,__Thor,__Iron Man,__ nor the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story._

…

The Weight of Words

Raven Ehtar

...

To anyone on the outside, their relationship must have been a little odd. More than a little, if truth were told. Downright bizarre if you were going for full disclosure. This probably had as much to do with their personalities and temperaments as with the relationship itself.

It's just that neither Tony Stark nor Loki Laufeyson struck anyone as the 'serious relationship' type.

Tony Stark was well known, and one of the things he was well known _for_ was being a shameless playboy. Anyone who kept up on celebrity news, or who just made a habit of scanning the covers of popular magazines knew that. If Stark spent more than a week with a single person it was worth taking note of, and the very few times a partnership went on for a fortnight there were rumors of true love and wedding bells – which was exactly what triggered those relationships coming to an end. No one could remember the last time Tony had remained with anyone for more than two and a half weeks. And even had he possessed the kind of personality to try and go for the long haul, anyone who knew him was convinced that it would take someone with tremendous fortitude to put up with Tony that long. His team were all of this opinion, as well as those few friends he'd kept from the time before the Avengers. Pepper was an especially vocal supporter of this theory.

As for Loki… no one, save Thor, knew what his record was like when it came to relationships, intimate or otherwise. The general consensus was that it was spotty at best. No one could ever forget their first introduction to the Trickster God, be it either through an Asgardian automaton called the Guardian that had decimated a small town in New Mexico or when he had led an intergalactic army into New York in attempt to take over the world, in truly classic 'evil villain' style that had all but gone out of fashion. Neither example lent itself to thinking of Loki as anything but a mad God of Chaos bent on conquest. If mates were imagined for him at all then they tended to fall into the tall, pale and slightly insane category. Though everyone knew he must have had at least one intimate partner in the past, his three children were more than enough evidence for that. Who that had been or what had become of her was, again, something only Thor knew, and he wasn't forthcoming.

Neither of them were what would be considered prime relationship material. Both were self-centered, self-involved, and so broken that when another person approached them they were in danger of cracking to pieces. And yet, they were together. With all of their individual hang ups and issues, and surmounting the not-inconsiderable hitch of having started their acquaintance on opposite sides of a war, they were together, and with the added bonus of three children.

Tony smiled over the tablet on which he was sketching out ideas for his latest suit upgrade. The three kids, Fen, Hela and Jör, had fired up a video game and were endeavoring to teach their father how to play, with mixed success. The God of Mischief seemed mistrustful of the controller and the brightly colored avatar on the screen. But it was rare for both Tony and Loki to be home, relaxing, and they pounced on the opportunity.

Loki for a lover and three kids as good as his own children, Tony thought ruefully. If anyone had said, or even _hinted_ at this two years ago… he probably wouldn't have even laughed, he would have been too flabbergasted to come up with any kind of reply. Loki, the God of Lies, who'd tried for world domination once upon a time, as his _lover_? Patently absurd. And as for the kids… well. Loki came with every kind of baggage, didn't he?

Watching the four of them from his perch on one of the kitchen stools, staring into the living room as Loki tried a certain combo that Hela and Jör were trying to teach him – as Fen gleefully slaughtered his sibling's avatars over and over while they were distracted – Tony mused what their little 'family' must look like to outsiders. This scene that was taking place right now was a rarity, when all five of them were gathered together and enjoying each other's company. Normally one of them would be with the children at all times, allowing the other to attend other tasks, be it running Stark Industries, saving the populace, or plumbing the depths of the mysteries… or whatever it was Loki did when he wasn't bringing down baddies. Occasionally they were both required to act when the call came, Loki now acting as a part-time or auxiliary Avenger, and they left the triplets in the care of a teammate or Pepper – whom the kids all loved. It had taken some time to get Loki to relax about that. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with the concept of babysitters, but he'd eventually accepted it enough to allow team ups.

The rest of the world knew that Loki, once enemy of Earth, was at least tangentially affiliated with the Avengers, and after little time and a few missions, rumor began to spread of Iron Man and the Trickster shacking up. Tony had no idea where the rumors had stemmed from, as the two of them were never overtly friendly in public – there was never time, for one. To the eyes of the world, they should have been simply teammates working together. True, he and Loki were often paired off together in missions, possibly as a holdover of mistrust from the rest of the team, and perhaps that was where the rumors had come from. Rag mags needed very little to go on for their stories, and well Tony knew it. In fact, the less they had to go on the better, as it gave their imaginations more freedom to go wild.

The fact that they were _right_ was beside the point.

Their minds and the minds of most of the public were easy enough to guess. They saw Tony Stark, the self-avowed playboy and Loki the would-be king together, and they perceived it as Tony trying a taste of truly forbidden fruit, of indulging in a bad boy fetish most could only dream of. Loki didn't care what the public thought, and Tony knew what to expect if he attempted to alter this view directly, so that's where the matter rested. As for the advisability of the move, opinions on that varied, but the general conclusion was that at least Loki was being watched by _someone,_ someone who had the muscle to keep him in line if he tried going evil again. And the triplets…

So far as the media was concerned, they were a mystery. Oh, they knew there _were_ children and that they were Loki's, but they had never been seen by a reporter or caught on camera. Early into everything Loki had made it very clear that he did _not_ want his kids made into some kind of spectacle to be gawked over, and Tony wholeheartedly agreed. He wasn't the type to coddle, but considering what would happen the minute they were spotted, he didn't consider shielding them to be 'coddling.' And it wasn't as though they were prisoners in the Tower, never allowed outside to roam. There were many outings shared by them and various members of the Avengers team, they were just all done quietly, in places where no one would be immediately recognized. That was becoming a harder feat to achieve each day, but they wouldn't have to stay hidden forever.

After the media there was S.H.I.E.L.D. to consider, as always. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the myopic director thereof, Nick Fury. Tony didn't have to _guess_ what Fury thought of his relationship with Loki, as the patched one would often share with Tony his thoughts on the relationship, the real motivations for it on both sides and his personal opinions on it and Tony's judgment. Usually at great length and high volume. The specific details were ever changing and evolving, but it generally boiled down to Tony being an idiot too blinded by his own ego and errant lust to see what a manipulative, evil prick Loki was. He swore up and down that Tony would bring about the doom of mankind with his libido. Tony had learned to tune him out fairly effectively.

And anyway, Fury only ever tried his spy tricks on him, which between the two of them, Tony or Loki were always able to spot pretty quickly. It's not like he could exactly fire Tony from the Avengers – not any more at any rate – so unless and until he was willing to go for all-out battle, Fury was more or less stuck with dark grumbling and little else.

But then there was the rest of their team to consider. What did _they_ think of the odd bit of domesticity that had sprung up so suddenly in their midst?

Tony frowned at an errant addition made to his sketch that would throw off the suit's power consumption to output ratio. He swiped it away to start again. On the television screen four avatars were now feuding together freely, with Loki's making a successful attempt at the combo about 50% of the time, and then managing to actually _hit_ one of the other avatars with one another 25% of that. No one seemed to really mind, as it was hard to actually tell who, if anyone, was actually winning.

This was a fairly rare moment. Most of the time, notably whenever there was another of their team present, things weren't nearly as relaxed as this. Lingering tensions made it difficult for guards to be completely lowered whenever Loki was around. Some were much closer than others. Save Thor, Bruce and surprisingly enough Steve being the closest, while Clint was far and away the one farthest from being comfortable in the same room as Loki. He still had trouble forgiving or forgetting his time as a mind controlled minion, and usually avoided being in Loki's vicinity when he could. It would take time. Although unless Tony were mistaken, not as much time as he would have originally thought. Fenrir, the little destructive tornado on legs, had taken a serious shine to the archer and would attach himself to the older man whenever he could. Clint, after a little awkwardness, had taken to the hero worship rather well, and was teaching Fen the basics of archery. At this point the affection he felt for the boy almost palpable, and it was hard to maintain an absolute hatred for someone while simultaneously nurturing a bond with his son. That hatred was slowly but surely wearing down.

But it would be a long time before it was completely gone, and until then the family life that the rest of their team saw was more stilted than it ought to be. Less between either Tony or Loki and the triplets, and more so between Tony and Loki themselves.

Loki was not a great one for public displays of affection, and Tony, after a rough snub or two when he attempted to initiate such, learned to follow suit. It was no real hardship, the attempt at PDA had been more to make his teammates uncomfortable than anything else.

Even when alone, though, there was this distance that Loki put between them. It was difficult to really classify it as a distance, though, because it never _felt_ much like one. It mainly manifested in how Loki spoke, and how he would react to certain words. It was rare, for example, for Loki to call him 'Tony.' Only on certain occasions would that name slip out. More notable, perhaps, was Loki's aversion to the word 'love.' It was complete, absolute. At least where Tony was concerned. He would say it from time to time with his children, but never, ever with him. Before Tony had become fully aware of this quirk, he had used the word on Loki once.

Just the once.

Loki had flinched as though stung with a barb, and went quiet for the rest of the night. The next morning Tony had woken to find Loki fully dressed for battle. He was told in clipped tones that Loki meant complete a particularly difficult portion of his penance, and he meant to do so immediately. Surprised, Tony had stared for a long time at the place Loki had stood before disappearing. He had heard nothing of his intention to leave. Loki hadn't bothered with any of his repentance in so long Tony had almost forgotten about it. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had precipitated that sudden re-interest in his tasks, though. In fact, Tony had been frightened that the interest in his tasks actually meant a renewed interest in returning to Asgard. In leaving Earth and him.

Loki stayed away for four days before returning, exhausted and battered. Tony never used the word 'love' in Loki's presence again.

How did that translate to the rest of the team? They could see the love that existed with the children – it would be very hard to miss – but between their fathers? Did the Avengers share the opinion of the public, that Tony was in it for kicks, and Loki was better off as some kind of sex toy than on his own recognizance, or were they on Fury's side in thinking Tony was a monumental fool falling under the Sly One's machinations? There was always the possibility that they saw what was really there, neither a joy ride nor a manipulation. But that was probably too much to expect. With not a single word spoken between them to confirm what was true, how could the team be expected to assume so much from a pair that shouldn't exist at all?

Motion caught Tony's eye, making him look up. Jörmungandr was there, staring up at him with pale blue eyes. Tony smiled at him. "What's up, slim?"

Jör quirked a grin at the nickname, and pointed over his shoulder back to the living room. Tony looked up and saw three more sets of eyes watching him. "Come play with us! Father thinks he can beat us, now."

"And you want some backup, eh?"

The boy nodded, still grinning, and charged back to the couches. Tony chuckled after him, quickly saved his sketch, and followed.

In the living room a space was made for him between Jör and Loki, with Hela on Loki's other side and Fen beside Jör. Taking his seat he smirked at Loki. "So you think you can take on four of us, villainous fiend?"

Green eyes sparkled back at him, a smile only half held back stretching his lips. "Of a certainty, foolish knave! I have studied your paltry systems of combat and mastered them all. Prepare thyself for a trouncing!"

Tony laughed openly and was handed Jör's controller, who decided to give up a turn for their secret weapon. Tony sat down, one thigh pressed against Loki's and a little boy bouncing on his other side, and got lost in the game.

Maybe they didn't show their affection that openly, he thought to himself, but it didn't mean it wasn't there, or that it wasn't expressed _somewhere, somehow_. That's what made the distance disappear again, in feeling Loki's closeness without the need of speech. He felt it when Loki laughed and it was a laugh free of artifice, or when he looked at Tony and could smile so easily. He felt it in the warmth of their legs pressed together or in the easy touches when Tony showed him how to do a difficult combo on the controller. They were little things, but they spoke clearly. They understood one another without the weight of words to hinder them.

…

_**A/N2:**__ That moment when you realize just how absurd these characters in a domestic situation really is. Oh, well._

Continuity Disclaimer:_ This is going to be a standard disclaimer attached to __**every**__ fic I post that has to do with the __Avengers__, so everyone knows where I'm coming from in terms of characters and world canon. _

_For the most part, assume that I am coming from __**only**__ the movies. __Iron Man 1 - 3__, __The Incredible Hulk__, __Thor__, __Captain America__, and __Avengers__ – and any sequels that come after these unless mentioned otherwise. I realize that I'm missing out on worlds of story and character development, but I would be starting from square one and 50+ years of backstory, (each individual character's series(es), the team series(es) and any/all crossovers or notable appearances), is more than a little daunting. So as much as I want to know everything about everything – trust me, this is __**really**__ frustrating for me – I just can't. I'm picking my battles and this one is a 'nope.' So as a result my __Avengers__ fics will not have 'comic book depth' to them. Sorry. (I __**do**__ intend to pick up some Marvel encyclopedias to hopefully get some more of the world down, hopefully that will help.)_

_What will they have? The movies, of course, one or two short comic arcs that I've been convinced to pick up that will have little to no effect on the continuity, Norse mythology – since I __**do**__ read that – and any details that I can pick up from other fans or that I research on my own. The result of all of this is usually going to be a sort of fusion that hopefully works and isn't too confounding for anyone. :)_

_**Thanks for reading, folks! I'm heading for yet another mondo-writing month, but I've still got a few of these built up and waiting for editing, so no worries. :3**_


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